Visa's Cross-Border Credit Card Fees Under Fire From European Union

BRUSSELS -- European Union officials say they have informed Visa that they have additional objections to its fees for cross-border card purchases.

The new objections are an extension of an antitrust case initiated in 2008 by the European Commission, the EU's executive branch, regarding such fees for both debit and credit card transactions. In 2010, Visa offered to cap its cross-border debit card fees at 0.20 percent – a commitment the EU made binding. But the case regarding credit cards continued.

On Tuesday, the Commission said it had reached the preliminary conclusion that such fees for credit cards reduce price competition between banks, inflate the cost of payment card acceptance for merchants and ultimately increase consumer prices.